Finding Your Heart in the Desert

As day breaks, you look out upon the open plain and smile to yourself. “Today is the day,” you think quietly and prepare for the challenge that lay ahead. Stepping outside your door, you notice a quite unlike one you’ve experienced before. It calls, beckons and prods you on to find the very thing you desperately search for. Today, in this barren wasteland of utter nothingness, you are hunting the most elusive prey of all… your heart.

There is something amazing about being out in the middle of nature with no one around. It’s peaceful, awe inspiring, and yet beckons you on to search… to explore… to discover something new. Why is it, then, that so many give up their search and reserve themselves to the monotony of life? Thoreau stated beautifully his decision to search the wilderness by saying,
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation…” He concludes that, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation…” WHY do we do this!? Simply put… we have lost sight of our Hearts.

For Thoreau, living life is continually searching, learning and experiencing. Why then would it be any different for us as Christians in our spiritual journey? You would not ask a child, or someone without any experience in a particular field or job, to know themselves and the world around them instantly. So why do we ask this of ourselves as Christians?

I would say we do this, because we derive our personal purpose in life from The Great Commission in some small way. What is not stressed, however, is the need for the Holy Spirit as the focal point of our very existence, not just an addition to it. Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit’s power and role as our focal point, in Acts 1:8 by telling them to wait. Being told to wait is a pretty terrible thing to be told, ESPECIALLY after what the disciples went through and experienced during their time with Jesus. Jesus knew that they needed to wait and receive from the Holy Spirit before setting off on His plan for their lives.

This leads me back to the “desert place”. No matter part of the world you are in, there are spots of barren waste lands. What’s so amazing to point out is this… God created ALL of that. All of the barren, the dangerous terrain, and the exciting wilderness God created and called it good! There is something about those places that each of us connects and that is natural. We crave that sense of danger, excitement, and awe in our own way, and these places allow us to realize more of ourselves and the awesomeness of our God. That is why our hearts are special and unique. We are made in the “wild” image of God and He created us that way! These places, of desert and barren wastelands are unique and special, so WHY find, discover, and tap into your heart and God somewhere that is not unique or amazing?

God draws us to the desert to teach, grow and bring to our attention His glory… and our part in this great world. So why wait! He’s calling from the desert